Nancy Pelosi To Hold Fundraiser For Pennsylvania Republican

The DCCC wants you to contribute money to this wealthy lifelong Republican

PA-06 is a swing district in southeast Pennsylvania, primarily Chester County, with significant pieces of Berks, Montgomery and Lebanon counties. The Republican state legislature skewered it towards the GOP in 2010 by taking out blue-blue Coatesville and putting in some red-leaning parts of the Upper Main Line. It went from being a D+2 district to an R+2 district. Romney scraped by in 2012, 174,415 (51%) to 166,0030 (48%) while Obama beat McCain more convincingly in the district in 2008 187,056 (53%) to 161,943 (46%). Last year, incumbent Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach won all 4 counties and an overall 57-43% victory over Manan Trivedi. Gerlach spent $2,108,953 on the race and Trivedi spent $1,331,021. The DCCC didn't give Trivedi a dime of assistance. But a few weeks ago, Gerlach announced he would be retiring.

The DCCC immediately recruited Mike Parrish, a Republican who switched his party registration from Republican to Democrat, Steve Israel's favorite kind of "Democrat." And Parrish is very conservative candidate with a typical Steve Israel mystery meat website that doesn't list any stands on issues. A Malvern businessman, Parrish has contributed thousands of dollars to the Pennsylvania Republican Party, to Governor Corbett, to John McCain and to Mitt Romney. He's never contributed any money to any Democrats. Why should he have? He's always been a Republican.

This Thursday, February 6th, Nancy Pelosi will be at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia raising money from loyal Democrats for Parrish.

There is perhaps no one, not even President Obama, who is more beloved by Democrats and despised by Republicans than Nancy Pelosi. Yet all recognize that one of her most impressive traits is her ability to raise vasts amounts of money.

“Mike doesn’t have a crystal ball and can’t see into the future.  But if such a hypothetical decision came before him-- he would vote his district and vote the way his constituents told him to vote-- just like he would on everything that came before him as a member of Congress,” Parrish’s campaign manager Jocelyn Steinberg said. “Right now Mike is focused on talking to voters throughout the district and listening to their ideas, concerns, suggestions on how to create jobs and boosts PA’s economy.”

NRCC spokesperson Ian Prior isn't happy about Parrish jumping the fence and running as a "Democrat" and made that clear in a statement: “Apparently Michael Parrish’s political soul is for sale. Just a year after claiming to be a conservative and donating thousands to Republican candidates like Mitt Romney, John McCain and Tom Corbett, Parrish is now gladly selling out to Nancy Pelosi and her liberal, job killing agenda.”

Joshua Grossman, the genius behind ProgressivePunch, looked closely at Mike Parrish's convenient switch to the Democratic Party. He told me that Parrish is a "Panamanian flag of convenience on an ocean-going tanker." This is the kind of garbage candidate Steve Israel has recruited all over the country. Most of the DCCC candidates-- with just a very few exceptions-- are dreadful conservatives who have one thing in common: not an inkling of what it means to be independent-minded. DCCC-endorsed candidates are predominantly political zombies who are expected to do exactly what intensely corporate whores Steve Israel, Steny Hoyer and Joe Crowley tell them to do. It's heartbreaking to see Pelosi going along for the ride and raising money from Democrats who admire, trust and respect her. I hate to say it, but it's time for her to either fire Israel or follow her two top lieutenants, George Miller and Henry Waxman, into retirement. 

Democratic Congressional Opportunities In Southeast Pennsylvania-- IF Steve Israel Doesn't Blow It Again

Do these protesters need to show up at Steve Israel's house?

The suburbs north of Philadelphia look promising for Democrats this year. First and foremost, Wall Street-owned New Dem Allyson Schwartz (PA-13) is leaving Congress and is likely to be replaced by the state legislature's liberal lion, Montgomery County Senator Daylin Leach. Conservative Democrats have their own ridiculous candidates, a corrupt Clinton mother-in-law whose only compelling reason for running seems to be to institute chained CPI and reduce benefits to seniors (Hoyer's candidate), and Philly-boss backed anti-Choice hack Brendan Boyle. But that's a primary and a potential pick-up for progressives, but a red-to-blue seat.

Steve Israel has failed miserably to recruit winning candidates against vulnerable Republican incumbents but Democrats had great news yesterday when Jim Gerlach announced he wouldn't be running for reelection in PA-06 (after 6 terms). The district, which has a PVI of R+2 after partisan redistricting that made it slightly safer for a Republican to hold, contains parts of 4 counties: Chester, Berks, Montgomery and Lebanon. Montgomery and Chester are friendliest to Democrats and it wouldn't be a stretch to take back that seat with the right candidate. Look at this PPP survey showing how vulnerable Gerlach was. The DCCC ignored it:

Now it looks like either Bob Casey's brother, Chris Casey, or current gubernatorial candidate Katie McGinty, may want to jump into the open-seat race. This is a great pick-up opportunity and No doubt Israel is scrambling to find a corrupt conservative to run.

East of PA-06 and sharing a around the Green Lane Reservoir and Schwenksville, we have another vulnerable Republican-held seat, PA-08, Mike Fitzpatrick's seat, that extends east through Doylestown and down into Bensalem and Levittown. Basically, though, excluding a small piece of Montgomery County, this is the Bucks County district. This one has an R+1 PVI and was recently held by Blue Dog Patrick Murphy. The DCCC ran out and recruited another of their untrustworthy empty suits, ex-CIA agent, Kevin Strouse. This district could be won but Steve Israel is likely to muck it up in his relentless jihad against grassroots candidates. As we pointed out last September, Strouse is a pro-fracking candidate and, like most voters in Bucks County, Shaughnessy Naughton, is a scientist and an anti-fracking candidate. Environmentalists abhor Strouse, of course, and have largely been endorsing Naughton, who Israel has been bad-mouthing to Democratic donors. For example, Michael Mann, author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars and a Distinguished Professor at Penn State, gave Naughton the kind of fulsome backing scientists have been awarding her:

I don’t normally do this, but our country is at a crossroads and, in my view, science is under attack.

Our scientific community has been generally loath to delve into the political realm. Meanwhile we have elected officials that are science deniers; they cut funding for scientific research and seek to politicize basic facts.

I’ve seen this firsthand. In 2005, the Attorney General of Virginia opened a civil investigation against me because he didn’t agree with my scientific findings on climate change, threatening academic freedom for the sake of promoting anti-science bias.

But there is a bright spot. I recently met Shaughnessy Naughton, a chemist and businesswoman from Southeastern Pennsylvania who is running for Congress on a pro-science platform.  She understands the scientific evidence behind pressing issues like the environment and healthcare, and she promises to fight to invest in scientific research funding to promote discovery, help grow our economy, and create jobs.  And, she understands the importance of making sure that we have strong STEM education, from elementary school all the way up.

Unfortunately, some traditional campaign donors don’t understand why it is so important to restore and grow the budgets of the NIH, NSF, and other sources of federal funding for scientific research.

But, as scientists, we do. We know the difference science can make in shaping a positive future for our country, and for that reason I believe we have an obligation to support a candidate like Shaughnessy who shares our commitment to fact-driven decision making…Take a look at her science policy plan here.

Just as a report from the AP was released warning on the dangers of fracking to drinking water, Strouse reiterated his pro-fracking agenda. Earlier today, Naughton drew a firm line between her own science-based position and Strouse's corrupt vision for an end to the fracking moratorium in Bucks County. She again told voters that she wants to "permanently ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on the Delaware River Basin."

She cited the newly released AP review of drilling-related complaints [linked above], which found that “Pennsylvania received 398 complaints in 2013 alleging that oil or natural gas drilling polluted or otherwise affected private water wells, compared with 499 in 2012. The Pennsylvania complaints can include allegations of short-term diminished water flow, as well as pollution from stray gas or other substances. More than 100 cases of pollution were confirmed over the past five years.”

What’s more, a new study undertaken by researchers from Princeton, Columbia, and MIT showed that in Pennsylvania the proximity to fracking sites increased the likelihood of low birth weight by more than half and doubled the chance of a low Apgar score. [Bloomberg 1/4/14]

“I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again, we need a permanent ban on fracking along the Delaware River Basin,” said Naughton, referring to the Delaware River, which runs along Bucks County. “We’re talking about potentially contaminating the source of drinking water for fifteen million people. On top of that we should be thinking about the impact on the local tourism economy. Who is going to want to stay at an inn on the historic Delaware River if it’s polluted? We’re talking about a $877.3 million industry that supports more than 11,600 jobs. This isn’t complicated. It’s common sense."

For some odd reason, the DCCC is sticking with a male CIA agent who backs fracking. Go figure!


UPDATE: Naughton Isn't Letting This Rest

This morning Shaughnessy Naughton sent out a press release demanding that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the administration of Governor Tom Corbett provide more transparency on fracking-related water contamination in Pennsylvania, and, in particular, the Delaware River Basin.

“It’s shocking to me that the one entity in the state that’s supposed to protect our environment is fighting efforts to learn about the impact of fracking,” said Naughton. “I’m calling on the DEP and the Corbett Administration to improve their transparency. We do not know enough about the effects of fracking, and the new information we are getting does not look good. We need more information, not less. The residents of Pennsylvania deserve better from their state government.”

By contrast, Naughton’s opponent in the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District, Kevin Strouse, told Midweek Wire, “I support natural gas drilling.”

Will 2010 Be The End Of The Road For Confused Pennsylvania Congressman Jim Gerlach?

not much longer

Pennsylvania has two congressional districts held by the GOP that have been trending Democratic enough to be at the tipping point, PA-15 in the Lehigh Valley and PA-06 in southeast PA (parts of Chester, Berks and Montgomery counties). Bush never won either district, although it was always close. McCain didn't come close in either, losing PA-15 with 43% and PA-06 with 41%.

According to John Morgan at The Pennsylvania Progressive there is a promising Democrat running in the 6th, Doug Pike. Pike announced his candidacy online yesterday. There are no hints in his announcement about where he stands politically but he doesn't sound like a typical Pennsylvania Blue Dog type. Morgan promises to get to know him better but he seems to be entertaining hopes that he'll be a bona fide progressive.

Some of us have been looking at prospective candidates to oppose reactionary Democratic incumbents in other Pennsylvania districts and just about every one of them is either an anti-choice fanatic, a homophobic throwback or someone obviously eager to get into office to get the kickbacks rolling. Oh, and they're all, first and foremost, gun nuts. On first whiff Pike seems different; we'll see. Other possible challengers to Gerlach-- if Gerlach runs; he has some delusions about running for governor-- are Harris Wofford's son Dan (who lost, narrowly, to Gerlach in 2002) and state Senator Andy Dinniman, the first Democrat elected to represent Chester County in the state Senate since 1890.

Gerlach has been a zombie-like obstructionist since Obama has come to office, voting no on all of Obama's programs to turn the economy around and institute the changes most people in PA-06 liked enough to have voted for Obama in November. The DCCC has a good feeling about the district this year, which they ignored in 2008 and screwed up with dysfunctional pro-war "advice" in 2006. If it's true that Pike is willing to drop $1 million of his own money into the race-- they all say that but it's rarely ever true-- the DCCC will be all over him. Gerlach should prove an easier target this year than ever before because he is so deeply implicated in the financial meltdown, while gobbling up millions of dollars from the finance/insurance/real estate sector (and from sleazy lobbyists), while voting for every deregulatory bamboozle the banksters ever asked for. A pawn and a whore, Gerlach has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that the only political prize he's earned is permanent retirement.

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